Tags: pregnant

First off, I need to thank each and every one of you who has left the most thoughtful and wonderful comments on here, Facebook, and Instagram, and by messaging me directly. You really know how to make a girl (and her bebe!) feel loved and supported, and I’m so grateful for my amazing village. I actually feel a bit sheepish for making such a big deal out of all this when I know that my situation is far from worst-case.

But I mean, hey, I’m a first-time mom, and the fact that things escalated so quickly in such a short amount of time really threw me for a loop. So yes, admittedly I was a bit shaken by this most recent turn of events — finding out that my bp meds aren’t working as well anymore, being sent back to labor & delivery for more testing, and being officially scheduled for my induction (a week from today!). However, with a smidgen of time and, moreso, so many of you guys sharing your own experiences and stories with me, I am feeling a little more level-headed and optimistic.

While it’s still not fun to have the threat of preeclampsia looming over me and while, of course, I would prefer to have been able to carry out the entirety of my pregnancy without a high-risk designation, I know that the odds really are in my favor here. Provided things stay relatively stable between now and next Tuesday, Foxlet will be born at 37 weeks on the dot (give or take 24 hours, most likely), and I recognize that plenty of babies even come at 37 weeks all on their own!

And should we not quite make it to Tuesday… well, I’ve now received both of my betamethasone shots (steroids meant to aid respiratory development) and all signs continue to point to her being perfectly happy all up in my uterus. So even if I end up being sent straight to be induced after my follow-up appointment this afternoon, she should still be in pretty good shape. After all, we’ve made it this far!

Foxlet’s Size: At 36 weeks, the apps say she’s around 6 lbs and the size of a cake, papaya, or 2-liter bottle of soda. Since we have an estimate of her size from last week at 5 lbs, 13 oz, and my baby book says they put on about an ounce per day, we can guesstimate that she’s around 6 lbs 5 ounces now? With a potential 2-pound variant] in either direction, hahahahaha.

Weight: Not that I really care at this point (nothing like medical drama to finally have me stop caring about my weight!) but based on my various weighings at my various doctor’s appointments, I still seem to be fluctuating within 2 – 3 pounds of the same weight I’ve been seeing for the past few weeks. You know, up if I’m weighed after I’ve eaten, down if I’ve just gone to the bathroom, etc. I think overall I’m anywhere from 3 – 5 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight? ::shrug::

Symptoms: Oh god, the sciatica. It sent me back to the doctor’s office last week in tears, but luckily it has somewhat subsided over the past few days from the acute, knee-buckling sharpness to a general ache. I totally credit my mama for this, who had been out of town visiting my new nephew in Atlanta, but quickly put her amazing Chinese massaging hands to use once she came back and has really been helping me with my pain points.

Aside from the pain from that, my main symptoms are shortness of breath, lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions, and my newest symptom are these really intense back and neck spasms that I’ve been getting. They are really intense — almost paralyzing — and hurt but not like, in a super-sharp-pain way, but rather in a kind of everything-tightens-up-and-you-can’t-move way. I confirmed at the hospital yesterday that the spasms aren’t contraction-related, so maybe Foxlet just shifted positions and is pressing on a nerve or something… which is maybe why my sciatica is suddenly somewhat relieved but I’ve got these new fun to experience, lol.

Emotions: Highs and lows, my friends. Hiiiiiiighs and lows.

Cravings/Aversions: All the Chick-fil-A and an intense craving for crab legs that I have yet to satisfy because Sean won’t take me to Red Lobster. ::tear::

Sleep: Meh. I’ve been sleeping okay by my standards, but I seem to have lost my magical ability to instantaneously return to sleep after waking. Which isn’t super great when you’re getting up to pee every 3 hours and your husband’s alarm clock goes off at 5. But again, I just look at this as great practice for when Foxlet is actually here, so it’s cool. I think I’m gonna get reeeeeal good at napping.

Purchases: UHHH fracking Carter’s, man! They sent me a catalogue in the mail and since I’m somewhat bedridden of COURSE I flipped through it… whereupon I immediately laid eyes on THESE:

And I swear, I have never gone SO FAST from seeing to buying. So these shoes are now on their merry way to me, along with like four other absolutely unnecessary things. Y’know, ’cause even though her closet is literally overflowing with clothes thanks to the generosity of my sister’s hand-me-downs and gifts from all my awesome friends, and even though I SWORE I wasn’t gonna buy her any more clothes myself because I don’t even know how she’s gonna wear what I already have for her… I mean, c’mon. Can you really blame me?

Looking forward to… dropping off the giant jug of my own pee that I’ve had to literally squirrel away over the past 24 hours so it can be tested. And hey, you can call “TMI!” all you want, but I had absolutely noooooooo concept of what a 24-hour collection was before they handed me that bright orange jug and told me what to do so I figure if nothing else, mentioning it might at least help prepare someone in the future.

NOT looking forward to… I dunno, technically I’m not really looking forward to my induction, I guess. I mean, it’s still a little bit scary, y’know? Having to get all these meds to push me into labor, the looming threat of a C-section (which, of course, is not the worst thing in the world but again, as a concept surgery kinda freaks me out!), etc. But I also kind of am looking forward to it? Because even though it’s not what I planned on originally, once I go into the hospital, I won’t be leaving without my baby. Which is awesome. And terrifying. And wondrous. And ridiculous.

Woo-hoo! We’ve hit the 27 week mark, people, which means that I’m either in my third trimester or about to hit my third trimester, depending on what resource you’re looking at. Many places state that 28 weeks is the beginning of the third tri, but 40 weeks divided by 3 trimesters is 13.3333333333 (ad infinitum), so it’s really more like 27-and-a-half, so I think we’ll just call it at 27. After all, I certainly *feel* like I’m in my third trimester, and that’s what really counts, right? Ahahaha.

Baby Foxlet is a super active little fetus, constantly pushing, prodding, and moving around inside. I certainly am not worried about having to meet my requirements for kick counts, that’s for sure. I can even see her moving from the outside now! It’s suuuuuuper weird and alien-like and creepy and amazing and awesome. Pretty much like all of pregnancy.

The coolest thing about week 27, in my opinion, is that viability rates shoot way up at this point. If for any reason I were to go into premature labor and Foxlet needed to be delivered now, she’d have a 90% chance of survival! I obviously want her to keep baking for many more weeks to come, of course, but it’s still a bit of weight off my shoulders to know that with every day that passes, she becomes more and more equipped to meet and thrive in the “real world.” Isn’t science awesome??

Foxlet’s Size: At 27 weeks, Foxlet weighs around 2 pounds and is the length of a head of cauliflower, a bottle of sriracha, or (my fave) the size of a fennec fox!

Weight Gained: Another pound up this week, I think? My weight fluctuates by a pound or more every time I step on the sacle, but I think I’m trending upward overall. So about -3 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight now.

Symptoms: Let’s talk about (dun dun dunnnn) stretch marks!

I can’t say I was surprised to find out that I was developing stretch marks during my pregnancy, since I already have some battle scars from my teenage growth spurts (on my boobs) and just from being fat (on my stomach). But even knowing that, I was still hoping in vain that I wouldn’t get any new ones, since I haven’t been rapidly putting on weight and my stomach has been growing at a pretty steady pace this whole time (versus “popping” very suddenly.) Plus, my (obviously much fitter and more petite) sister hasn’t gotten stretch marks with any of her pregnancies.

But oh well, clearly that just isn’t the case for me. I’ve been very liberal with applying lotion and making sure I’m well hydrated and moisturized and stuff, but they say that doesn’t really have anything to do with it — either you’re gonna get ’em, or you’re not (and the majority of pregnant women do get stretch marks of some kind.) So I’m in the majority on this one, but honestly, despite the fact that of course I’d prefer not to develop new trenches in my skin, I’m not really that broken up about it. (Which kinda is the surprising part for someone as vain as myself, ahaha.)

My stretch marks so far are primarily on the main part of my stomach, deepening ones that already existed with little tinges of pinkish purple at the edges (but not like the dark purple “tiger stripes” that some women get — not yet, at least.) All of my previous stretch marks are the faint silvery-white kind, so I’m hoping that’s how these will end up after all this is done as well. That said, I guess I really shouldn’t assume anything since I’ve still got an entire trimester to go!

I’m also newly experiencing swollen feet/ankles if I’ve been on my feet all day or have been traveling. Even the 45-minute plane trip I had to make to North Carolina last week turned my feet into little hippo stumps. On Instagram, several of you guys recommended I pick up some compression socks, so I did just that and have tried to remember to keep my legs elevated when I’m working on my laptop or watching TV.

Oh, and I can’t let a symptoms update go by without mentioning my heartburn, of course. GUFF. THE HEARTBURN. The past few nights in particular have been baaaaad — my acid reflux tend to act up right before bed, which contributes to me not being able to get to sleep because, well, duh, my throat is on fire. I’m starting to figure out which foods trigger it more than others, but mostly I think it’s just another lovely symptom with which I’m going to need to learn to cope. After all, non-pregnant Gretchen also got heartburn, so the fact that this has been exacerbated can’t come as a surprise to me… I just am most definitely NOT gonna be happy about it.

Emotions: Irritability and general moodiness has been high this past week. I’m just so cranky these days! I had to fly to North Carolina for a super quick work trip last Thursday (like, 24-hours-quick), and while the trip went just fine, the hassle of traveling (delays, swelling, exhaustion) ruined my mood for, like, 4 days straight. Not a completely rational response, I realize, but ::shrug::

Basically, apologies in advance if I seem extra whiny, short-fused, or am just kind of the worst right now.

I’m not really having specific aversions, but I have picked up on the fact that avocado gives me heartburn (cryyyy), so I’m trying to avoid it… which is hard when avocado is on everything that sounds good to me, and is also delicious! I’m starting to wonder if tomatoes are doing the same since, I’ve been eating quite a lot of them lately and I know they’re quite acidic… I’ll be super sad if that’s the case though, because I’m really digging raw tomatoes right now! Which feels somewhat ironic considering I spent the first 20+ weeks of this pregnancy vomiting into my mouth at the sight or smell of tomato sauce, lol.

Sleep: Well, this is a loaded question today in particular, since last night I had heartburn so bad I swear you could’ve broken into a bank vault with the amount of acid in my throat. Ugh. I had an event for work last night, which went awesomely, but I was wiiiiiiped out when I got home. So, of course, all I want to do is crawl into bed, but my acid reflux kicked into like, super high gear and completely prevented me from being able to fall asleep.

When I finally was able to pass out, it was that terrible kind of sleep where you know you did fall asleep, but it doesn’t feel like you did. Do you know what I’m talking about? Like, logically I know that I didn’t just lay there awake for 5 straight hours, but that’s what it felt like. And then I had to get up insanely early this morning to run an errand… and I have another work event tonight. I’m hoping to be able to take a nap before I have to go do that, or tonight will be particularly interesting…

Purchases: My baby shower is just a couple weeks away, so I’m trying to be good about not acquiring new baby stuff on my own. That said, I totally caved and ordered a couple of things from Target’s latest baby line because they’re just so darned cute, and I feel like Target is constantly running out of stock on things and apparently when it comes to Foxlet I have retail-specific FOMO, lol.

I got a crib sheet, changing pad cover, some gold polka dotted blackout curtains, and the cutest little pillow you ever did see. Can’t wait ’til they arrive and I get to jazz up the nursery even more!

Looking forward to… This weekend, Sean and I are headed off on our babymoon! We’re spending a long weekend at a beautiful B&B in the Shenandoah Valley, and I’m really excited for us to spend some QT together before this little one comes to totally rock our world. 🙂

And finally, in other news: I no longer seem to be the only person in Fox household who’s acting ready for this little one to get here! Sean has been so sweet & loving lately — kissing the belly, talking to her, saying goodbye to both of us when he leaves for work in the morning — and getting excited for the hospital tour and birth class stuff I signed us up for (thanks for all of your advice on this topic from last week, btw!)

Aloha! We’re back with another update — and actual things are happening… good and bad lol! Let’s jump in, shall we?

Foxlet’s Size: Foxlet’s just under 2 pounds and about the size of a head of lettuce or package of Oreos.

Weight Gained: My scale ran out of batteries and apparently I have like 6 boxes of AA batteries but nary a single AAA battery in my house, so I’m not really sure where I’m at this week. But I think I might’ve gained another pound or so, which would bring me back up to to -5 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight.

Symptoms: Eh, heartburn, insomnia, SPD, general uncomfortableness… there’s not a whole lot of new stuff going on with me physically. Just some more unfortunate-but-normal stuff, which seems to be pretty much par for the course with me.

Foxlet is SUPER ACTIVE (not sure where she’s getting her athleticism from, because it certainly ain’t her couch-potato mama) and loves twirling around and punching and kicking me to high Heaven. Sean was able to feel her kicking from the outside for the first time last week, which was a really special moment for us. I think the “realness” of this whole thing is finally starting to set in for him — he’s been super sweet about rubbing and talking to my belly, and has been really into discussions about baby names and baby stuff lately too. 🙂

I’m also already deep into nesting mode — my baby shower isn’t for another few weeks, but I haven’t been able to help myself from starting to set up a few things already. Which, I know, is kind of silly because I still have months to go, but I can’t help it! Nesting! The nesting is real!

Our plan is to have her sleep in the bassinet we got in our bedroom for the first however-long and then transition her into her crib in her room downstairs when she’s sleeping “through the night” (whatever that means at the time, lol.) Our bedroom isn’t very big, with two big closets taking up an entire wall, so we just kind of have to make it work by shifting some things around (including Harry & Daxter’s beds, haha.)

Luckily, we don’t really use that one side of the closet that much anyway — it mainly houses Sean’s and my fancier clothing — suits and cocktail dresses and whatnot.

Emotions: Sooooo, as I mentioned last week, I had my 1-hour glucose screening test…

Not gonna lie, I was SUPER bummed out about failing my initial screening. Like, crying on the phone to the poor woman who had to call me with my results. And then crying to Sean about it. And then crying to my sister. This is despite already knowing that lots of women fail the 1-hour test, and many of those who do fail go on to pass the 3-hour test. (Dr. Google says anywhere from one-third to one-half of tested women fail the 1-hour screen, while only 3 – 9% of pregnant women actually have legit gestational diabetes.)

Well, even being aware of all that beforehand, I was still pretty upset when I got the call and am distinctly NOT looking forward to having to do the more invasive tolerance test. ESPECIALLY considering the lab tech who drew my blood last time left me looking like I’d been in some kind of weirdly specific forearm fight:

Le sigh. Anyway, my doctor’s office didn’t make it seem like it was too urgent for me to take my 3-hour glucose tolerance test, so I’m doing it at the end of this month. Basically, I get to drink another super sweet glucose drink (TBH I kind of liked the first one — it tasted kinda like super sweet non-fizzy Fanta), and then they draw my blood 4 times over the course of 3 hours (once at the beginning to establish a baseline, I believe, and then again at hours 1, 2, and 3.)

If my blood sugar is elevated outside of the normal range for 2 of the 3 blood draws, I get officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Which means I’ll have to go see an endocrinologist and follow a special diet and have to do those finger prick things and maybe even potentially have to give myself insulin shots! Buuuuuuuut, before I spin out of control (again), I just need to remember that those are all attached to a big “if” at this point.

So for now, I’m going to try to remain hopeful that I’m in the 20-plus percent of women that will go on to pass my 3-hour, and if I do end up having GD, I’ll cross that bridge then. After all, Foxlet’s health is obviously the most important thing here, so of course if those things need to happen, they’re gonna happen. But it doesn’t mean I’m gonna be happy about any of it, lol.

Cravings/Aversions: Been craving lots of sweet things — fruit, desserts, bubble tea. Maybe it’s my mind telling me to get in my sugars while I can, just in case I do end up having to go on a stricter diet, lol. No real aversions right now though, so continued yays there!

Sleep: Sleep is a tricky thing. When I do finally fall asleep, I think I sleep pretty hard. But the actual falling asleep part is really hard. I get uncomfortable staying in one position for too long, but sometimes it hurts to change positions while lying down because of my aforementioned SPD. Plus, my acid reflux means sometimes I need to be laying kind of upright so as not to aggravate my esophagus. I continue to be very grateful that I work from home and don’t have to adhere to a super early alarm clock.

Purchases: I went ahead and ordered a Nanit baby monitor — they’re backordered until August, so I figured I’d go ahead and bite the bullet now. Calling itself the “Tesla of baby monitors,” this monitor is supposed to provide a great quality picture, secure access via your phone, includes temperature + humidity sensors, a special night light that’s not supposed to wake the baby when you go check on her, and white noise/nature sounds functionality as well.

Plus, the “Nanit Insights” feature (an extra subscription) stores video from throughout the night and even compiles a little highlight video for you each morning so you can check on how well the baby did the night before. It has a bunch of sleep analysis features as well that are supposed to let you know how well your baby slept, and help you figure out sleep improvements and whatnot. Which, eh, I’m mildly skeptical of how accurate/scientific that part of it all is, but I’m sure it’ll still be fun and interesting for us, haha.

I was also lucky to receive a couple more baby gifts this week, so in addition to getting her bassinet set up in our own bedroom, I have wasted no time starting to get Foxlet’s room in order as well. Sean’s parents very generously gifted us with our crib and mattress, and I just couldn’t keep myself from setting it up!

It’s taking a bit of time to figure out how everything’s going to work in her room, as our house only has two bedrooms, so her room is also our guestroom. So it was already full of furniture that I’m trying to repurpose for the baby as best I can. The main thing is trying to work around the bed, which I’m reluctant to get rid of because I think it’s sure to come in handy after she’s born — whether for actual guests or just for me, haha.

So setting up her room is involving a lot of trial-and-error, shifting things around, and just seeing where things fit (or don’t.) For example, in order to fit the crib in there at all, we have to push the bed pretty far over to one side (it used to be centered in between the two windows). It’s not ideal, but I think it kinda works? I’ll be playing with the layout of everything a lot more, so I guess we’ll see how it all ends up.

So there are still tons of changes to come, of course, along with swapping out a bunch of the current decor, adding new stuff, and performing a general girlification of the room, hehe. But consider this your very first peek at what Foxlet’s nursery will be like!

I also haven’t decided if I like the cranes pulled to the side like curtains (how it is pictured above), or if I want to cut some of the strands so they all hang straight down (the way they used to), but in a way that kinda forms an arch over/around the crib. It’s probably kind of hard to visualize, but… thoughts? If I leave it as it is now, I’ll definitely be putting a decal or some artwork or something on the wall in the middle.

In other news: I’ve put together a rough birth plan document and pre-registered at the hospital (for anyone who’s familiar with the local hospital system, I’ll be delivering at INOVA Fairfax), and am now looking into birth classes for Sean and me to take. Although, I have heard some mixed things about taking birth classes.

Some friends say they really loved theirs and thought it was really valuable, and some have said it didn’t really provide any new information and was kind of a waste of time/money. As someone who is neuroticGoogle-happywatches a lot of medical tv shows prone to doing tons of research and self-education anyway, I am wondering if I’ll fall into the latter category. I mean, I’ve already read through like 3 baby books, am constantly perusing the BabyCenter forums, and am listening to the Pregnancy Podcast every night before bed soooooo… lol.

I imagine birth classes are one of those things that can’t possibly hurt to do (and might be especially great to get Sean more comfortable with things), but I’d love to hear from you guys on whether you felt taking a birth class was necessary (or, if not necessary, then at least warranted.)

Anyway, that certainly catches us up (and then some!) to what’s been going on lately. See you in week 27!

Well helloooooo Week 20! We are officially at the halfway point of this pregnancy, which is kind of crazy to think about. On the one hand, it already feels like I’ve been pregnant forever (partially because I found out pretty much as early as one is able to, lol), but on the other, it feels like September’s gonna be here before I know it!

Foxlet’s Size: Foxlet is the size of an artichoke, banana, or a pint of root beer. Mmmm, root beer…

Symptoms: Nausea is continuing to get better, huzzah! I had a super visceral vomiting reaction to Sean showing me something that had gone bad in the fridge and asking “Do you know what this was?” (recommendation for all husbands/partners/families/roommates of pregnant women: don’t do that.) But other than that one off, I haven’t been throwing up, and my nausea in general seems to finally be lightening up… as long as I keep food in my stomach, that is! If I let myself get too hungry, I get super nauseous and feel terrible, but now that I’ve identified the cause, it’s definitely my own fault when it happens. Which means I can’t really blame the baby anymore, darn.

I’m still experiencing pretty bad round ligament pain though, and what I think is a mild form of pelvic girdle pain. On the bright side, those little maybe-gas-maybe-baby pops and bubbles I was feeling last week? They’re definitely Foxlet rolling around in there! I can feel her multiple times a day now, especially at night or when I’m leaning forward. It’s both totally weird and super awesome at the same time.

Emotions: Less cranky this week than last, and just kind of all-over-the-place-emotional again.

Aversions: Hallelujah! I think my red sauce aversion seems to be going away! I successfully ate dishes that had some kind of red sauce not once, but twice this past week! Sean made eggplant parmesan one night at home, and I noshed on some meatballs at Alta Strada when meeting a friend for lunch. Victory at last!

Sleep: It’s been okay this week. It takes me a while to really feel tired, and I get hungry around midnight so my bedtime routine lately has included a late-night snack, lol. I’m really loving the pregnancy wedge pillow I picked up on Amazon shoved under my bump.

Purchases: So my lesson this week is that I’m not allowed to go into baby stores anymore, because I will buy something. Apparently window shopping just isn’t really a thing for me anymore. Exhibit A:

Also, Sean and I met up with his aunt & uncle who were in town visiting us, and they totally spoiled Foxlet! Not gonna lie, I’m finding that the getting-presents part of being pregnant is pretty great. 😉

Wearing: started busting out the belly bands and I really love how much support they give. Plus I feel like they help round out my bump and makes it look cuter, heh.

Missing… raw fish, man! At my big event on Friday, one of the vendors was serving up these insane poke bowls, while another was serving perfect-looking sashimi, and I wanted both soooooo badly.

Looking Forward to… my Level 2 ultrasound next week! This is the “big” ultrasound where you get to see tons of stuff, they explain all about how the baby is developing, and you find out the sex (unless you’re me, and you elected to find out on your own 4 weeks ago, lol.) I’m super excited to get into all the nitty gritty details of how she’s developing (and to confirm that she really is a girl… juuuust in case).

Foxlet’s Size: Foxlet is the size of an heirloom tomato according to one app, a mango according to another, and, according to a third, a hot dog! Which feels more than coincidental, considering I’ve eaten a hot dog every day for the past 5 days.

Symptoms: Stiiiiiiiiiill nauseous, but pretty sure it’s continuing to get slowly better, so… yay? (Sigh.) Actual vomiting seems to be down to no more than once a week, and yet, still manages to keep me on my toes (I threw up in the sink while brushing my teeth — a first for me!) My face broke out again a few days ago as well, which is never fun for me.

The main symptom that’s reared its ugly head this past week, however, has been round ligament pain. It’s apparently very normal to feel some pain as Foxlet grows and my uterus expands. Sometimes it feels just kind of like a stretching feeling, and sometimes it’s more of a series of pangs… but the latter is, unfortunately, quite unpleasant. Apparently some women don’t really notice it, but, shockingly, I am not one of those women. On the bright side, it’s a good sign that Foxlet is growing, and is probably dancing/kicking up a storm in there.

I feel like I complain a lot when it comes to my pregnancy symptoms (though in my defense, it does feel like I’m experiencing a disproportionate amount of the bad ones), so to focus on the positive side, my hair seems to be growing faster, and my nails are supah strong!

Emotions: This week I am apparently taking a break from being my usual sobbing, weeping mess, and instead, I’m just crankypants. This past week I’ve been very irritable, and very easily annoyed. I don’t think the nasty weather from the past few days has been helping much… and my crankiness is also probably compounded by the stress of last-minute planning for the huge work event that I have coming up on Friday (my biggest event of the year). Then toss in the fact that I’m not very physically comfortable right now, and here we are. At least I’m cognizant of this being outside of the norm for me? And I like to think I’m relatively aware of when I may be overreacting to small annoyances… although I probably am not really that self-perceptive.

Cravings: Still feeling the call of fresh fruit and raw veggies, which is good, because my other recent pregnancy cravings are decidedly less good for me. Namely, hot dogs with lots o’ mustard, and ham & cheese Hot Pockets. Only that kind of Hot Pocket, though. Bring me a pizza-flavored one and watch in horror as I throw up on your shoes.

Aversions: Pizza, pasta, the dipping sauce that comes with Sean’s mozzarella sticks… red sauce is still 100% banned from my life. Aside from that, most foods are fair game… although my lingering nausea means that I still have a hard time deciding what I want to eat, and am still not eating frequently enough.

Sleep: I’ve stopped taking Unisom to help me fall asleep, and finally feel like I can get to sleep and stay asleep on my own. So, hooray! I also feel like I’m sleeping a good amount of hours, and my Fitbit doesn’t seem to indicate that I’m any more restless than usual. But, that being said, I’ve been staying up kind of late and have also been getting hungry super late at night. So, to make myself less likely to puke first thing in the morning, I’ve been getting out of bed to make myself a midnight snack most nights, lol.

Purchases: My sister gave me a Children’s Place gift card for my birthday and I just couldn’t hold off on spending it any longer, hehe. Behold the cuteness and squee:

Missing… I mainly just miss feeling good. There is always at least a couple of hours each day where I feel pretty awful, whether it’s from feeling nauseous, being hungry, being tired, round ligament pain, or whatever combination of the above. But I count it among my blessings that I haven’t really felt super deprived of anything during this pregnancy so far, so that’s a plus for sure!

Looking Forward to… reallyfeeling Foxlet kick! I think I may have felt her a couple of times now, but each time was like a one-off thing and it’s been really inconsistent. It feels kind of like a bubble popping inside of me? So, could be baby… or could be gas, lol.

Hi! I'm Gretchen: 29 years old, Whasian, and navigating life as a new mom to my daughter & old mom to my two mini schnauzers. I enjoy dyeing my hair, eating dumplings, playing the ukulele, and anything (everything!) Harry Potter-related. Thanks for stopping by!